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Mortgage & Loans
Debt Consolidation Calculator — Combine Debts & See Your Monthly Savings
Turn several high-APR balances into one monthly payment — and see whether it actually saves you money
Debt consolidation is the specific move of taking several separate balances — say a couple of credit cards, a store card and an old personal loan — and replacing them with one new loan that pays all of them off at once. This calculator is built around that combining step: you list each balance with its own APR, it rolls them into a single principal, works out the blended APR you're really paying today, and then shows whether one new loan at a single rate beats your current pile. The headline answer it gives is your monthly savings versus your current payments and the interest saved over the life of the debt.
The key idea is the blended APR — the balance-weighted average of everything you owe, which is the honest benchmark to compare a consolidation offer against. You don't compare a new loan to your worst card or your best card; you compare it to the average rate you're actually carrying across all the balances:
Blended APR = Σ(each balance × its APR) ÷ Σ(all balances)
Worked example. Suppose you owe three cards: $8,000 at 22.99%, $7,000 at 19.99%, and $5,000 at 24.99%. Multiply and add: (8,000 × 22.99% + 7,000 × 19.99% + 5,000 × 24.99%) = $1,839 + $1,399 + $1,250 = $4,488 of yearly interest on $20,000 total, so your blended APR is 4,488 ÷ 20,000 ≈ 22.4%. Today those minimums run roughly $600/month and would take about 58 months and $11,800 in interest to clear. Consolidate the same $20,000 into a single 36-month loan at 9% APR and the payment lands near $636/month with only about $2,896 in interest — so you save roughly $8,900 in interest and finish 22 months sooner, even though the monthly payment barely changes.
The rule this page exists to enforce: a consolidation only wins when the new loan's rate is clearly below your blended APR after any fees. If your cards blend to 22% and you qualify for a 9%–12% loan, it almost always pays off; if the best offer you can get is 19%, you're mostly just shuffling the debt around. The savings figure here is what tells the two apart — it nets your new payment against the total you're paying across every current balance, not against any single card.
This tool deliberately stays focused on the combine-and-compare decision. It doesn't re-derive how a single loan amortizes or how origination fees shave the amount you receive — for that side of the math, including the true-cost-after-fees breakdown of the new loan itself, see our Personal Loan Calculator. And one thing no calculator can model: the behavioral risk of running the freshly zeroed cards back up. Consolidation fixes the math of your debt; it only fixes the problem if you stop adding to it. This calculator provides an informational estimate, not financial advice — your actual rate, fees and terms are set by the lender.
📖 See also: How to Pay Off Credit Card Debt Faster
Calculator
Fill in the fields and click "Calculate" for instant results.
📰 Formula
• Monthly rate: r = APR / 12 (as a decimal) • Loan payment: M = P × [ r(1 + r)ⁿ ] / [ (1 + r)ⁿ − 1 ] • New total interest = (M × n) − P • Monthly savings = current total monthly payment − new payment M • Blended APR = Σ(balance × APR) / Σ(balance) • Interest saved = current total interest − new total interest
📰 Formula
• Monthly rate: r = APR / 12 (as a decimal) • Loan payment: M = P × [ r(1 + r)ⁿ ] / [ (1 + r)ⁿ − 1 ] • New total interest = (M × n) − P • Monthly savings = current total monthly payment − new payment M • Blended APR = Σ(balance × APR) / Σ(balance) • Interest saved = current total interest − new total interest
🧪 Worked examples
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Example 2
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Example 3
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Example 4
⚠️ Common mistakes
- Comparing the new loan to one card's rate instead of the blended APR across all balances.
- Leaving a balance out of the blend, so the average rate looks lower than what you really pay.
- Counting only one card's payment as your 'current' cost instead of the sum of every payment.
- Running the paid-off cards back up, so you owe the new loan plus new card debt.
💡 Tips
- Compute the blended APR first — it's the honest benchmark the new loan has to beat.
- Only consolidate if the new rate is clearly below your blended APR after any fees.
- Judge the result by interest saved versus your current total, not by the new payment alone.
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<iframe src="https://www.calcnimbus.com/embed/debt-consolidation-calculator" width="100%" height="500" frameborder="0" style="border:1px solid #eee;border-radius:12px"></iframe>
❓ Frequently asked questions
How does a debt consolidation calculator work?
You enter each balance with its own APR and current payment. It sums them into one principal, finds your blended (balance-weighted) APR, then compares the total you pay now against a single new loan — reporting your monthly savings and the interest you'd save.
How do I calculate the blended APR on my debts?
Multiply each balance by its APR, add those products up, then divide by the total balance. Example: ($8,000×22.99% + $7,000×19.99% + $5,000×24.99%) ÷ $20,000 ≈ 22.4%. That weighted average — not your highest or lowest card — is what a consolidation offer has to beat.
What APR do I need for consolidation to be worth it?
The new loan's APR should be clearly below your blended APR. If your balances blend to 22% and you qualify for a 9%–12% loan, consolidation usually wins; if the best offer is around your blended rate, you're just moving the debt, not saving on it.
How does this calculator measure my savings?
It compares against the sum of all your current payments, not one card. Monthly savings = your total current payments − the new loan payment, and interest saved = current total interest across every balance − the new loan's interest. That's the real before-and-after of consolidating.
Does combining several debts actually save money?
Only when the new rate beats your blended APR after fees. The win comes from replacing a mix of high-APR balances with one lower rate — the bigger the gap between your blended APR and the new rate, the more interest you save over the payoff.
What about the loan's payment, fees, and amortization?
This page focuses on the combine-and-compare decision rather than re-deriving a single loan's payment or how an origination fee trims the amount you receive. For that detailed breakdown of the new loan itself, see our Personal Loan Calculator, then bring the rate and term back here to compare.
Should I include every balance in the blend?
Yes — leave one out and your blended APR looks artificially low, which can make a mediocre offer seem good. List every balance you intend to pay off (cards, store cards, an old personal loan) so the weighted average reflects what you actually carry.
Does debt consolidation hurt my credit score?
There's a small short-term dip from the hard inquiry and a new account. Over time, paying balances down and lowering your credit utilization usually helps your score — as long as you don't run the cleared cards back up.
Is a single payment really better than several?
One payment is easier to manage and removes the risk of missing a due date among several cards, but convenience alone isn't the test. The number that matters is whether the consolidated rate beats your blended APR — let the interest-saved figure decide, not the simplicity.